Wolf and Cub
by DJ Clawson
Summary: Something terrible happens to Lupin, and Zenigata must unravel the mystery. Complete.
1. What You Do To Me

Wolf and Cub

By DJ Clawson

Author's note: If you find this interesting, let me know and I will continue it.

* * *

Chapter 1

"Lupin!"

But Lupin wasn't there. The thief had already made a hasty retreat and the safe was still wide open and empty. The bank manager had an ashen look on his face, one Zenigata was more than a little familiar with. Lupin's warning note was still on the desk.

He didn't waste any time taking charge, shouting into his radio,  
"We have to barricade the streets. And put a man on the roof to make sure that son of a bitch doesn't fly away or something!" It wasn't beyond the thief to pull a stunt involving a hot air balloon or a hang glider or something. Zenigata himself concentrated on the open window, and where it led. It was a mere one-story drop into some bushes.

"Inspector!"

But it was too late. Zenigata went straight out the window, into the already-crushed bushes, which were the softest he had ever landed on - and he had landed on several. He was still picking himself up when a squad car pulled up to him and a uniform got out. "Sir!"

"Have you blocked off the streets?"

"In every direction, sir! He's not getting away by car or by foot."

Or any other contraption he might have cooked up, he mused. But it was best not to underestimate Lupin the Third. "What about his partners? Has anyone seen them?"

"Nothing, sir."

He handcuffed the uniformed officer. "And you're not Lupin?"

"Sir?" The man raised his hat so his eyes were visible. They were green, and Lupin's weren't. He seemed uncomfortable at the accusation, but not in the way Lupin would be.

"Heheh," Zenigata chuckled in a reassuring manner as he uncuffed him. "Just checking. Keep up the good work!"

The officer saluted and ran off. That was all well and good, but that didn't leave Zenigata anywhere. Lupin had just disappeared, without a showy display or even a getaway car. It didn't make sense. There had to be -

Zenigata picked his feet up. He was standing over a manhole. "Lupin!" The shout was largely instinctive at this point. He lifted it up and lowered himself down the ladder. The sewers beneath the city were massive and there was plenty of a walkway,  
but the light from the manhole wasn't enough. He shuffled through his trench coat until he found his spare flashlight. Tiny as it was, it still put a small stream of light into the darkness.

There was running sewage water and the walkway. His light finally found a body on the walkway, slumped against the wall. Red was not a very hard color to focus in on. "Lupin!" He handcuffed him instantly, holding up the cuffed arm in triumph with his own."You're not going anywhere!"

No response. Wait, he'd fallen for this before. It was a stuffed scarecrow or a log or something. "Hey!" He kneeled in closer and shook the figure. It let out a groan, and slipped out of the cuffs. All right, so it was Lupin. "Stay right where you are!"

Lupin's response was to try to stand, albeit slowly. He ultimately failed in this endeavor, and slid back down to the ground.  
Zenigata held his light source closer. It was that unmistakable face, sideburns and all, contorted in pain. He went lower, and noticed Lupin's other hand was bloodied and busy holding his chest.

Zenigata took another sweep with the light. The liquid he was stepping in - that he had assumed was water - was actually blood. There was a trail of it leading back to the stairs. "Lupin?" Where were his partners? Lupin was too focused on being as tense as possible to give him a proper response. "Let me see." He had to pry Lupin's hand away, then slowly pull away the jacket. There was a tear in his blue shirt, an inch or so above the heart, and it was clear that was where all the blood was coming from.

"Okay." But it wasn't, and that was the problem. He put the hand back up against the wound. "Just keep pressing, okay?" He picked up his radio. "I need an ambulance and I need it now!"

Breath in, breath out - just like the Zen priest had told him, back when the commissioner had made him go through a relaxation workshop. It was all he could do to keep himself from strangling the medics for not arriving faster. Lupin had made no further attempts to escape between the time they arrive and when they were called for, and Zenigata had made no attempts to restrain him. The thief wasn't going anywhere; that much was obvious.

The medics waded through the much with a stretcher. By the time they reached Lupin, his body had gone limp in Zenigata's arms, consciousness leaving him completely. They practically had to pry him away from the inspector.

There was an army of officers waiting for him when he reached the surface again, following the medics taking Lupin away. The bank manager got between them. "What happened down there?"

"I - I don't know," he stammered.

"What about the diamonds?"

"They were down there, and they're not on his person." But the robbery seemed like ages ago now. He hadn't even thought of searching Lupin for the diamonds. "I have to go with the prisoner."

"You have to send some men to search the sewers," the manager demanded. "This was not some petty theft."

"And this is not some petty thief! Now we caught him, what else do you want!" Zenigata shouted before he could control himself. "Now get out of my way!"

There was no further protest from the smaller man. Zenigata pushed his way into the ambulance, which was getting ready to go. The medics were putting all kinds of tubes in Lupin. Zenigata squeezed his way in so he was sitting at his head. "How is he?"

"We won't know until we get him to the hospital." The medic seemed annoyed that he was being disturbed. They unbuttoned Lupin's shirt, revealing a wound above his heart. "Looks like he's been stabbed." They were attaching all kinds of patches around his heart as Zenigata sat there numbly. When they started bandaging him, Lupin started squirming under his restraints, pain etched into his face.

"Tell him not to move," the medic barked.

"Lupin," Zenigata said, now noticing Lupin's eyes were half-open. "Try not to move, okay?"

Lupin's voice was almost inaudible beneath the oxygen mask. "_Tottsan .._."

"Uh - you're gonna be all right." He was unsure, exactly, what the protocol was in this situation.

Lupin seemed like he was about to say something else, but his eyes rolled back into his head and he was gone again. Zenigata scrunched up closer to him.

"He's not going anywhere, inspector," the medic said.

"I know." He put his hands on Lupin's shoulders. A handcuff still dangled from his wrist. "I'm just - making sure."

To be continued...


	2. An Affair in Paris

Wolf and Cub

By DJ Clawson

Chapter 2 – An Affair in Paris 

"Congratulations," said the commissioner of Paris' police force – a shot man with a horrible moustache who had always blown Zenigata off as some kind of over-persistent lunatic. Now he was smiling warmly, something Zenigata wasn't familiar with at all. "I hear you finally got your man, inspector. Rather unfortunate circumstances surrounding it, though." He looked through the glass to Lupin's secured room in ICU. There were two guards at the door and one by the window, and Lupin had a wrist cuffed to the railing of his bed, but it was probably all for naught. "What's the latest?"

"Fifty-fifty." He didn't feel like chatting casually about his success with the commissioner. He felt exhausted, like he needed a bed as much as the patient. Maybe being covered in blood did that to him. "Someone got him a with a knife. Grazed his heart." In a lesser man, it probably would have topped ticking. "Cut all kinds of things. He's on the surgical schedule for tomorrow."

"And the perpetrator?" The commissioner folded his arms in thought. "Must have been a member of his gang. Partnerships in crime almost always go sour. And then he – or she – made off with the jewels. What do you think?" But Zenigata had gone somewhere else mentally. "Inspector?"

"Huh? Uh, sorry. I mean, yeah, it was probably someone he knew." He tried to go back into 'detective' mode. "Has the press got wind of this?"

"Not yet. I thought you would like to be present at the conference where it's announced. You'll need to change your clothes first, I imagine."

"I don't want it announced. Not yet."

"What? Zenigata –"

"Listen," he said very methodically, "somewhere out there is an attempted murderer with a sack of jewels. He doesn't know if Lupin is dead or alive right now, and I need that advantage. I'm going to find this guy."

There was a pause. "... I suppose we could hold off for a day or two. Lupin's certainly not going anywhere." He glanced sideways again. "How many officers do you need?"

"I'm not sure yet. But I need access to the best lab you have, and someone who can crack a hotel key card." He held up a white card with 'Acacias Saint Germain' written on it sideways. "I found this on his person." Along with a fake fun that fired a boxing glove, several condoms, and a ton of hair pins – but that didn't need to be said at this juncture.

"Of course, Inspector. Right away," he said. "But might I recommend a change of attire?"

One of the men lent him a blazer, navy blue and hideous, but he didn't want to waste time going back to his hotel to get one of his own. He knew enough about being a detective to know that the first 72 hours after a murder – or, in this case, attempted murder – were absolutely crucial, and every minute could be another mile the killer was putting between himself and Zenigata.

The Acacias Saint Germain Hotel was one of the best in town, which didn't come to any great surprise. He had seen his share of swanky hotels before – though almost never as a patron. This time he didn't have to go through the desk to ask if Lupin was here, and try to bargain for their assistance, and that was a relief. The computer at the station said it was to room 412, which was more than he usually got from a receptionist protective of a well-paying guest. He had a few officers with him, and more outside.

He didn't even bother knocking. He slid the key right in, and opened it when the light turned green, storming in with his cold drawn and ready. "Hands up! Everyone!"

Goemon Ishikawa was on the balcony, facing away from him, his sword in his lap. He was clearly meditating or something, or had been until Zenigata entered.

"If you're looking for Lupin, you're out of luck." It was Jigen's voice. Zenigata spun around, and saw Jigen laid out across a very expensive looking couch, half-napping in a cloud of smoke.

"Shut up! I know where Lupin is! Now – which one of you did it?" He waved his gun around very intently. "Where's Fujiko?"

"Is this about that vase in Hong Kong? Because that thing is long gone, man."

Goemon came out of nowhere, moving at an impossible speed with his sword. The guns of the supporting officers fell to the ground in shreds – as did most of their clothes. Jigen still showed almost no visible concern, but that hardly made him any less of a lethal man.

"Where's Fujiko?" he repeated. "Did she do it?"

"Do what?" Goemon said.

"Don't play around with me!"

"Hey buddy," Jigen said, sitting up at last, "we're not playing around. Now are you off your gourd or what? Tell us what this is about."

Zenigata sighed, and lowered his gun. "Someone stabbed Lupin during a heist at French National and made off with the loot. You can't honestly expect me to believe that you know nothing about it."

Daisuke Jigen was pale. Hell, he was beyond pale. For him to lose the color in his face basically meant he was chalk white. "Wha – is he all right?"

"They don't know yet. He's in the hospital – under guard, so don't try anything."

Then the gunmen did something Zenigata had never seen him do voluntarily – he took off his hat. His expression was still shocked. "Jesus Christ." Goemon was doing his samurai best to transcend emotion, but he was barely holding up a brave front.

"Now – where is Fujiko?"

"She's – she's in her room. Hold on, let me get her," Jigen said, and practically staggered into the back. The officers tried to follow, but Zenigata waved them off. Jigen reappeared with Fujiko, who's expression was similarly emotional.

"I swear – I don't know anything about a diamond heist!" she said. "I mean, we were planning one for next weekend, but that was going to be the four of us, and it was at a gallery!" Today, Fujiko was no smooth-talker. "Inspector, tell me he's going to be okay."

"I don't know that." Her unfamiliar manner had thrown him off. "But I need to you where you all were earlier today."

"Here," Goemon said in the kind of voice that made it impossible to doubt him. "We've all been laying low."

"Yeah. I'll even vouch for Fujiko on this one. She was here," Jigen said, then noticed the look she gave him. "What? You betray us all the time!"

"But I would never hurt Lupin!"

"You've certainly put us in harm's way," Goemon commented.

"That's completely different than stabbing him and you know it!" she said, practically in tears.

"Then I need to know what Lupin's been up to," Zenigata said. "Where he's been, who's he's seen, what was on his schedule today."

"Nothin' special," Jigen said. "We were busy planning this heist that I guess is a bust now, but it's a lot of sitting and waiting – you must know that. Lupin said he needed some air last night so we went to a bar – the two of us. Lupin got falling down drunk and I practically had to carry the guy back here. When we woke up, he was gone."

"It was a little unusual," Goemon said, "but certainly not exceptional for Lupin."

"So he didn't say anything at all about a heist?" The inspector couldn't quite believe it. "Did he just not want to cut you in or something?"

"Lupin only does solo heists when we're not available, as far as we know. And he certainly doesn't work with anyone else. I mean, he's had other partners, but that was years ago and he doesn't always speak highly of them."

"What do you know about his – other partners?" This must have been from before Zenigata was on the Lupin case.

"Lupin prefers not to discuss people he finds distasteful," Goemon said. "Or people who have passed on. He does not dwell on the past."

"Huh..." Why did the victim have to be so well-adjusted?

"Look, man, if you want to arrest us now for all the usual stuff, you can try," Jigen said, "but we won't be all that helpful if we're behind bars – "

" – and we wish to help you," Goemon said.

"For Lupin," Fujiko chimed in.

If this was an elaborate sham, he couldn't see the reason. Lupin could have just gotten away instead of faking injury – and according to the doctors, he _wasn't_ faking it. He had a feeling that he knew everyone in the room well enough to know they weren't affected by the news, so they weren't lying – not about everything, anyway. That was three suspects, down the drain.

And now he had nothing to go on – nothing at all.


	3. Initial and Date

Wolf and Cub

By DJ Clawson

Chapter 3 – Initial and Date 

Zenigata's desk was the headquarters of all Lupin investigations in France and the rest of Europe. While it was nothing compared to the stacks of papers and piles of evidence in the lockers in Osaka, Lupin spent enough time in his ancestral homeland that the office was like a second home to Zenigata.

Still, it was second-best and that wasn't what he needed right now. Hoping the cost of the call wouldn't come right out of his pay, he phoned the commissioner of Osaka. "Did you hear?"

"Yes, I was informed. You finally got him, at least until he recovers. He will recover, is that correct?"

He looked at his watch. It was now almost midnight, so it was early morning in Japan. "He's going into surgery in eight hours. Then we'll know more. I've got to find the guy who did it."

"You tried his partners?"

"They're innocent. Their alibis aren't airtight, but I know they didn't do it."

"You're so sure, Zenigata-kun?"

"Sir, with all due respect, I think I know these guys," he said, his voice a little harsher than he intended to be. He blamed it on the hour. "I need some information."

"Of course. On what?"

"Former partners. Anyone he may have worked with. Anyone he may have crossed. Go back all the way, as far as the files go."

"You realize we have files on him from when he was twelve years old?"

"I've read them. They're just not fresh in my head and I need some names to go on. And a list of enemies."

"That's going to a be rather long list."

He rested his head on his upright palm. "I know, but could you do it? Email it or fax it or whatever."

"Are you all right, Inspector?"

He paused, because he himself had to do a mental check. "Yes, sir. Just very tired."

"Then get some rest. It'll take some time to bundle up this information for you."

"Thank you, sir."

"Keep up the good work, Inspector."

There was something he hadn't heard in a long time. "Thank you, sir." But it didn't make him feel a whole lot better, not while Lupin's would-be killer was still at large. There was no doubt that that stab was a kill move, not a friendly little nick. Someone liked Lupin even less than he did.

He sighed and spread his hands across the desk. It was filled with papers – more urgently, the police report filed by the bank manager, along with the Lupin note. When he had written it, Lupin had been healthy and probably looking forward to his heist, the little bastard. Now he was at death's door and all Zenigata had to go on was his stupid note –

Except, it wasn't his note. The inspector hadn't seen it up close when he arrived at the bank. It had been on the desk, and since his reading comprehension for French was still limited, he had just gone on the explanation from the very harried manager – his name was Beaufort or something. And it did announce that the vault would be robbed, or so Zenigata could now decipher – and when it would be robbed, and of what. And, the signature did say 'Lupin' – but not the way Lupin signed it. The handwriting was different, it didn't say 'the Third,' and it didn't include that annoying little cartoon face with the signature.

In fact, he was willing to bet his pension that Lupin hadn't written it at all.

* * *

"Has he woken up at all?" he asked the nurse as she pulled up the wheeled cot for transfer. "Here – let me do it." He lifted Lupin from bed to bed. He couldn't believe how light he was.

"Not that we're aware of," she said. "I was told to inform you that no one but authorized personnel are allowed in the operating room. Your officers will have to wait outside."

"Fine." Lupin was in no condition to escape, and his partners certainly weren't going to bust him out now. "Can I walk him to the room?"

"If you want to, sure." They began the trek to the elevator. Lupin showed no response to any of this. He was even paler than yesterday, his face contorted in a pained expression. "Officer, there are some forms that probably should be filled out by his next of kin."

"Lupin doesn't have a next of kin. He's probably got a kid or two he won't admit to, and some friends I wouldn't trust with a sharpened stick – and he's got a father somewhere. I think he's still alive."

"Well, someone has to fill out the forms," she said, handing the clipboard to Zenigata as she pushed the elevator button.

"I'm his caretaker," he said without thinking.

"Then put that down."

"What are his odds for this surgery? Do you know?"

"Any time they open up the heart is something to be concerned about. Beyond that, I'm not a doctor." The door opened. "Operating room is on the left. This is as far as you can go."

"Fine." But it wasn't.

* * *

"Aww, look. He's _adorable_."

"Disgust rises from –"

" – deep within you. Yeah, we've all heard it before, Goemon."

Three voices in the mist. Zenigata picked his head up from the crook of the chair that it had fallen into. The hard plastic had made his neck all sore. In the tiny waiting room, he was surrounded by three people he didn't know on the surface, but with whom he was well-acquainted beneath layers of disguise. "Gah. What time is it?" He answered his own question with his watch. It was almost noon.

"We didn't want to wake you," Fujiko said. "Besides, there hasn't been any news."

"Fujiko even did her nurse impression," Jigen said. "Too bad Lupin wasn't awake to see it. He probably would have leapt right off the table. Remember that time he jumped out the window when she called? No, you weren't there Goemon – trust me, it was classic."

"And I thought you couldn't stand me," Fujiko said.

"I can't – but that doesn't mean I wouldn't give anything to see Lupin up and running again."

A heavy silence fell over the room.

"So – about two days ago. The day before the heist," Jigen began hesitantly. "We don't remember anything specific, but Lupin was a little overeager to get wasted that night."

"What do you mean?"

"He was depressed," Goemon said. "It wasn't all that noticeable at the time, but looking back on it, he was."

"Lupin always played everything close to his chest," Jigen said. "But he wouldn't have taken on another partner without telling us. That's just screwy."

"I don't think it was another partner," Zenigata said, reaching into his breast pocket and pulling out the theft note. "I think it was someone else. A rival."

Lupin's partners took a closer look at it. "Hey, this isn't Lupin's handwriting."

"No, it isn't," Zenigata said. "Do you recognize it?"

They shook their heads no.

"I'm going to run all kinds of tests. See if anything comes up," he said, taking the note back. He shuffled the papers around that he had been working on before he dazzled off. "Oh – and does anyone know where I can find Lupin the Second?"

Jigen eyed him suspiciously, "Why would you need to do that?"

"Because I need him to fill out some forms. Do you know him?"

"I've met him," Jigen answered. "Only once, way back when it was just Lupin and me. Long story short, I didn't like the guy, and I didn't know Lupin that could swear like a sailor if he wanted to until that day."

"So they didn't get along?"

"That's putting it mildly, yeah."

"Huh." The wheels were turning in his head now; he nearly missed it when the doctor came in.

"Inspector," the doctor said, not recognizing or addressing the others.

"Doctor," he said nervously, rising to greet him.

"We repaired the damage to his heart and his artery. It's going to be touch-and-go for a few days, and then we'll know more. You can visit him once he's transferred back to the ICU, as long as he isn't disturbed. No stress on his heart – _whatsoever_."

"I want to put some people on the accepted visitor's list," Zenigata said. "These people – whatever names they give, put them on the list to get past security." He passed by the doctor, ignoring his flabbergasted expression. "I've got something to look into."


	4. The Writing on the Wall

Wolf and Cub

By DJ Clawson

Chapter 4 – The Writing on the Wall 

"Master Koroshi? No? Nothing?" Zenigata flipped through the fax pile. "What about this Catherine Lambert character? She was murdered, right?"

"Right," said the commissioner over the phone. "I'm sorry, but I just can't find a single living partner, except for his current ones."

"It's a very dangerous profession," he said. "All right, I need all the information we have on Lupin the Second."

"Are you kidding me? His father's been missing for years. Why don't you ask around? He was last seen in France." There was some shuffling at the other end. "Arséne Lupin the Second. Born 1932 in Vichy, France. Son of Arséne Lupin the First and Bianca Lupin. First arrest in 1943. Married Aiko Toronaga. Incarcerated a few years later, convicted of grand theft, petty theft, trespassing, manslaughter. Served eleven years of his life sentence before escaping. Some sightings in Osaka, Tokyo, Kyoto, Berlin, and Paris. I think I'm reading this right."

"So the file was never closed?"

"No, but the case went cold. The detective in charge of his case retired years ago."

"You have his name?"

"Sure, but it won't do you any good. He died in a boating accident in Lake Biwa-ko, in Shiga. His name was Hiroshi Musashi. Good man."

"Fine." He wrote it down anyway. "I'm going to try to find Lupin's father."

"You think he had something to do with it?"

"Only one way to find out."

"Zenigata," the commissioner said, "you get one Lupin and you just pick up another. You're completely obsessed."

"I just want to find this guy," he said. "I have some forms for him to fill out."

Beaufort's office had been kept in the same condition, with the exception of miles of yellow tape strung around the place. The place had been gone over by the officers for prints and evidence, but none had been found. Now the place was as empty as the walk-in vault.

"If I might ask," the bank manager said with the most impatient tone he probably could muster, "do you have idea Lupin where may have stashed the diamonds?"

"I don't think Lupin took them," Zenigata said. "He was here, but someone else was too."

"And you know who this is?"

"I have my suspicions." He stepped into the vault. It had apparently been cracked the old fashioned way – with a stethoscope or a certain amount of guessing instead of explosives. There was nothing left in the tiny room now but empty boxes and disturbed dust.

He turned to the open window. The outer window ledge had obviously seen its share of winters, with its ugly green paint peeling and a fine layer of dirt covering it. There were prints in the dirt – the highest layer behind his own shoes from his leap into the bushes yesterday, but that didn't concern him. "I'd know these prints anywhere. Italian loafers. Very expensive. Lupin's."

"Brilliant detective work, Inspector," Beaumont said. "Though I think his warning note and finding him near the scene might be more compelling evidence to his involvement."

"Do you want me to find your diamonds or not?" he said, even though he wasn't thinking about the diamonds. "There's another set here. Someone else came in first, left first." He glanced around again. "They didn't fight here. There's no evidence of struggle. But they were both in here. Maybe the suspect came in first through the window – " He imitated the wide steps of the thief, " – and then Lupin followed him. You were gone for ten minutes – is that correct? For a master thief, that's plenty of time. More than enough. Hmm." He rubbed his chin. He hadn't had a chance to shave in the last day, so it was pretty scratchy. "They both went out the window when they heard you approach. They must have heard the door squeak or something." He opened the door to the hallway, and it did, in fact, make a slight noise. "They weren't taking any chances so they took the sewer route. You made the call and I arrived in ...," He checked his notes. "... Four minutes, fifty-eight seconds. But it doesn't take that long to get from here to where I found Lupin in the sewer, so they must have had an argument there."

"So two thieves had a tiff. Where does that leave us?"

"Mr. Beaumont," Zenigata said angrily, "if you'd contacted Interpol when you received the note, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess!"

"I can't imagine why I wouldn't rush to inform Interpol – what with your amazing record of catching Lupin," he spat back. "Do you know what happens when a bank announces that Lupin is targeting it? It goes out of business! What if it had been a hoax? I have to put my kids through university. Now you get those diamonds back before it leaks to the press or I will personally see to it that you are transferred to some data entry job in an office in Russia!"

"I'd like to see you try!" he said, shaking his fist Beaumont. "I've been threatened by more powerful people than you! Now if you'll excuse me, I have a case to solve!"

He was still fuming when he stormed out. He was still fuming when he got in his car and started driving. He was even still fuming when he got to the hospital, but the stillness of the evening was calming. The quiet was punctuated by rhythmic beeps from monitors and the occasional ringing of a call button.

"I'm sorry, sir," said the guard to intensive care. "Visiting hours are over."

"I'm Inspector Zenigata, Lupin is my prisoner, and if you try to stop me from guarding him, I can have you fired by special order of Interpol." It wasn't entirely true, but he was furious and more than willing to take it out on this guy. He was apparently aggressive enough, because the guard opened the heavy doors to the sealed ward. Sighing, he passed the nurses' station and through the glass door that led to Lupin's room.

Lupin was asleep, or unconscious. The lights were dimmed for night but not off entirely, and they shined on all of the tubes and wiring that were keeping him alive. There was no one else in the room.

Wait – there was no one else in the room. "Nurse!" he yelled in French, turning back to the station. "Where are the officers who were guarding this man?"

"They were relieved by the commissioner," she said.

"The commissioner?" The commissioner had gone home early because of a stomach ache – Zenigata had still been in the office at the time. Something about it didn't make sense. "Call security. Have them send someone up."

"Sir?"

He had really had enough of this today. "Do it now!" He took a breath and went back in Lupin's room. Everything appeared in place. There was a basket of flowers on the shelf and a tiny statue of Buddha. "Huh." He plucked it off. It was made of brass. "Must be from Goemon. Hey, Lupin, check this out." He waved it in front of Lupin before putting it back. He noticed there was also a bottle of whiskey. "Some friends you've got here." It was good scotch too – the kind he couldn't afford on his salary. "You're lucky I'm on the job."

"Pops – "

"Relax. It's still sealed." He blinked. "Lupin!" The little thief was indeed awake, though lacking in his usual vitality. His eyes were bloodshot and only half-open, his expression dazed. Zenigata practically leapt on top of him. "Lupin! You're awake. You have to tell me who did this to you."

Lupin responded by raising a shaky hand and pointing across the room. Zenigata spun around. It was just enough time to get smacked in the head with a crowbar, as a black-clad man emerged from the tiny closet. The inspector was hurled back against the wall, into the machines attached to Lupin. "Crap!" By the time he drew his gun, the man in black had already opened the window and was in the process of leaping out of it. "Get back here! You're under arrest!" The man laughed, but it was muffled by his ninja hood. There was a roof for the other wing of the hospital for him to land on, just a flight below.

"Crap crap crap CRAP!" He turned to the horrified nurse and the guard who had appeared with the sounds of the scuffle. It was hard to hear with all of the machines going off. "Take care of Lupin. I'm going after him!" he shouted, and went right out the window. This time there were no bushes to break his fall, and he landed on the tarmac of a roof that wasn't really meant for walking around. There was distance between him and the assailant, a tall and skinny man, almost lanky in a way. Zenigata fired a warning shot into the nearby vent. "Stop in the name of the law!"

The man reached edge of the roof. There was now a much larger drop as his only visible means of escape – one Zenigata doubted his own abilities to survive. "I said STOP!" he repeated, pointing his gun at the man with one hand and flashing his badge with the other. "Interpol!"

"I know you are," the man said in Japanese. "Zenigata-Keibu. And if you can't catch Lupin, you certainly can't catch me." With that, he reached into his small backpack and a set of rotating propellers came up and began rotating, lifting him off the ground.

Zenigata fired into the air, but the assailant deftly avoided his shots, laughing all the way with that horrible laugh. "Damnit!" The inspector tossed his hat on the ground and stamped on it. "Crap. I'll get you, Lupin!"


	5. The Lousy Thieves

Wolf and Cub

By DJ Clawson

Chapter 5 – The Lousy Thieves 

Zenigata was woken not by Lupin returning to consciousness or nurse checking on him, but by the appearance of the rest of the Lupin gang. The inspector, who had been sleeping in the chair next to the bed, picked his head up and looked out the window. It was now day.

"Jesus, Zenigata," Jigen said without a hint of tact. "You're a mess."

He didn't need to look in a mirror to know it was true. He had even fallen asleep with his gun still in his hands. "I didn't see anyone guarding him."

"We were kicked out by that doctor. Had a grey beard."

"Lupin," he said. "It was Lupin the Second in disguise."

"You're kidding, right? Friggin' incredible."

"We are tremendously dishonored," Goemon said with his usual level of severity. "We will repay this debt by guarding Lupin without fail."

"His own father did this to him?" Fujiko said with disbelief.

"I mean, they didn't like each other, sure – but this it outta nowhere," Jigen said, settling into one of the chairs. "So Lupin was awake?"

"Only for a few seconds," Zenigata said. The corner of his eye caught the cigarette case peaking out of Jigen's jacket. Man, he could go for a smoke right now – if the room wasn't pumped with oxygen. "I don't know what would have happened if I hadn't gotten there in time."

"You really think it was him. Lupin's dad."

"I'd know that laugh anywhere." He looked at Lupin, who was resting peacefully. "Now I just have to find him, but Lupin doesn't seem like the kind of guy who carries around an address book."

"Even if he did, I doubt his dad would be in it," Jigen said. "We could just wait it out. If he comes back, we'll nail him. I mean, I don't like waiting around for someone to kill Lupin, but unless we can find his father ..."

"Zenigata, why don't you go get some sleep? You look terrible." Fujiko sounded genuinely concerned. It was indeed a very odd day. "You can use our hotel room if you want, since you obviously already have a card."

He breathed out. "You know if you try to run off with him – "

" – he'll die without the machines. What do you take us for?" Jigen said.

"Lousy thieves," he said, and left.

* * *

In his dreams, Zenigata was always strangling Lupin. That was pretty much par for the course at this point. He wasn't trying to choke him – it was more of a desperate, you're-getting-what's-coming-to-you-you-little-punk strangle. That department psychiatrist probably would have had a field day with it if the inspector had not left that out of his evaluation interview.

It just was odd that he was strangling the wrong Lupin. He had only seen Lupin the Second in the police photographs taken before he was sent off to prison – his features more purely French than Lupin, who was half-Asian, and with a black beard. He was sort of a scrubby version of the infamous Lupin the First, whose imagine was in so many photographs and had even had films made based on his life. His voice was older, lacking Lupin's essential vitality, but he was clearly just as clever – and it felt so, so good to get his own arms around him. Now if that damn ringing would just quit, everything would be perfect.

His hand jerked out back in the real world and found the plastic hotel phone. " – H-hello?"

"Zenigata." It was Jigen. "We thought you'd want to know Lupin's awake."

"Is he talking?"

"He's bein' all closed off about it. Maybe you can knock some sense in him." There was some noise on the other end, and Jigen's voice was clearly no longer directed at the phone. "Of course I was joking, idiot. Just eat your jello."

"I'll be right there."

He showered and shaved in record time, even for him. He had no idea how long he'd been sleeping and he didn't bother to check. He only focused on getting back to the hospital, a route he was now close to memorizing.

When he walked in, Lupin was attempting to sit up, and his friends were doing their best to keep him down. "Lupin," Goemon said sternly, "your injuries are very serious. You have to rest."

"Yeah, stay down or Zenigata'll cuff you to the bed again," Jigen threatened.

But their boss had already given up. He was propped up with several pillows. His breathing was uneasy and the look of surprise in his eyes when he saw Zenigata was muted.

Zenigata took off his hat, which unfortunately revealed the welt that was growing on his head.

"_Tottsan_," Lupin said between wheezes. "You're okay." He seemed relieved.

"Yeah. Don't say I never did anything for you, you ungrateful little bastard. Do you want to tell us what's going on?"

"Hey – hey hey. Am I under arrest?"

"Poor Lupin," Fujiko said, perched on the side of his bed. "He's a little delirious. You should see the morphine drip they have him on."

"In other words," Jigen said, "you're not going to get the straightest answers from him. Not that that's a major difference from his usual antics."

"Lupin," Zenigata said, sitting on the other edge of the bed so Lupin was facing him directly. "Tell me what happened."

"Are you going to put us in the same cell?"

"I know it was your father."

Lupin's wane smile faded. He seemed to crawl into his own mental world for a moment.

"Lupin, you gotta tell us what's going on," Jigen pleaded. "I know there's bad blood between the two of you, but we need to find him."

"I don't know," the thief said at last, between ragged breaths. "I don't know where he is. He – called me." He repositioned himself on the pillow; it looked like a lot of work for him. "I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"And how would you refer to your current condition?" Goemon demanded. "Tell us the whole story."

"I'm tired. And there's a baby going out the window. Is someone going to get that?" he said. "My chest is killing me. I think something's stuck in there."

"Does he know he had surgery?" Zenigata asked.

"We told him, but he's high as a kite, so I don't think it took," Jigen said. "I don't know how much we're gonna get from him today."

"I have my own ideas. Lupin, just tell me if I'm going in the right direction." He made eye contact; Lupin seemed aware enough to look back at him, but he was fading. "Your father contacted you maybe a week or two ago. You didn't want to meet with him, so he decided to bring you out by announcing a heist in your name. If Lupin promised to break into the French National, then Lupin was going to be there, one way or another. Am I right so far?" When Lupin didn't contradict, he continued, "It worked, and you went. You snuck in after him and talked as he broke into the safe. Then the manager came back in the room so you both went out the window and made your escape. But you only got as far as the sewers before you started fighting, and you have bruises on your knuckles and forearms to prove it. He stabbed you with a dagger and left you, taking the diamonds with him."

There was a pause from the spectators.

"Wow, Inspector. I have to say, I'm impressed," Fujiko said.

"Yeah, I didn't know you did actual inspecting," Jigen quipped.

"Shut up!" Zenigata snarled, but softened his expression as he turned back to Lupin. "So – is that most of it?"

"Old man," Lupin said, "you're a regular Heiji Zenigata. But it doesn't matter. He got away. A Lupin ... always ... gets away ..."

"Don't remind me." But he could see he was pushing the limit here. "Do you know how we can find him?"

"You can try ... the Lupin Estate. I think ... there's visiting hours..."

"All right." He put his hat back on. "I have to look into some things. Your partners are going to stay with you."

"That's right, Lupin," Fujiko said, cradling his head in her arms. He had already closed his eyes. "Look, he's already – HEY!" While she had been talking, his hand had slid down her back. She had to physically hold one hand back from slapping him.

"And to think we were worried about him," Jigen said with a smile.


	6. Monsieur Lupin

Wolf and Cub

By DJ Clawson

Chapter 6 – Monsieur Lupin 

When he called the hospital from his office, Lupin was still sleeping, and would probably just sleep through the night. Goemon was staying up as a guard, so he was probably safe, or so Zenigata assured himself.

He knocked on the commissioner's door. Fortunately, the guy was also working late. "Come in, Inspector."

The office was a mess, unlike his commissioner in Osaka, which had a floor you could eat off of. "I have some questions."

"Of course."

Zenigata seated himself. "Where is the Lupin Estate?"

"The Lupin Estate? It's about an hour south of Paris, depending on the traffic. You know that it's a national museum, don't you?" He looked at the Japanese inspector's expression. "I suppose you don't. You see, Arséne Lupin was a bit of a national hero, even if he was a felon. When he moved his family to Japan to retire, he donated his ancestral mansion to the government. The items that were identifiable as stolen were given back to their owners, and the rest were left as a museum. Now it's a tourist attraction."

"So I take it no one's lived there since?"

"Not since he left in the 50's, no. I'm not sure what you would find there, but I can arrange for a ticket."

"All right. I'll go in the morning." He added, "And I'd like to see the files on Arséne Lupin."

"I'll have someone dig them out, but a lot of that information has been lost over the years. It was over half a century ago, you realize."

It didn't phase him for a second. "I'll take whatever you've got."

There was no real news from the hospital in the morning, so Zenigata got in his rental car and got on the road as fast as he could. He had no particular appreciation for the French countryside this morning, his mind wandering and going over the facts and clues again and again. Still, he was just trying to find a Lupin, and he was exceedingly skilled at that if nothing else, so it really couldn't be much longer.

The Lupin Estate was a massive mansion, flanked on all sides by beautiful gardens and winding paths that lead into the wilderness. Why Arséne Lupin had ever given it up for anything in Japan, he had no idea.

"You must be Inspector Zenigata," the woman at reception, which had once been a parlor of some kind, said to him. Did he really look that much like a cop? He wasn't even wearing his trench coat today. He took of his hat when he entered, because that was what they did here, wasn't it. "There's a tour that just started if you'd like to get on it."

"Thanks," he said, and rushed off in the direction she pointed. A small crowd of tourists were facing a wall in the massive hallway, where the guide was gesturing towards a small flower painting. Zenigata squeezed in next to a blond woman.

"There's an interesting history behind this piece," said the guide. "Because of Arséne Lupin's reputation, it was assumed that most of the treasures in his collection were at one time stolen. However, since the estate already belonged to the government, it laid claim to most of them. Only people who could describe the items in great detail and provide some proof of ownership were able to recover their 'stolen' items. It is estimated that over 20,000 claims were submitted to the manager of the estate for the 4800 items of value. Only about half of those made it to court and were returned to their owners, leaving us with an amazing collection of 2462 antiques and pieces of art. This particular painting was the subject of a dispute between the French and English governments. In 1951, King George VI submitted a claim that it had been stolen from the House of Windsor, but since he was unable to describe it in specific detail or identify the artist's signature on the back, it was kept by the estate. This dispute alone makes the painting, which is dated to the 18th century, priceless."

"It's beautiful," said the blond quietly.

"Don't even think about it, Fujiko," Zenigata said coldly.

"Hey! I wasn't even thinking about it! And how did you know it was me?"

"Sure you weren't," he said. "And I know the smell of a thief."

The guide led them down the grand hallway, passing by all kinds of artwork beneath stunning crystal chandeliers. At the end the hall was a T-junction, and facing them on the wall was a giant portrait of Lupin the First himself. He was minus his trademark cape, but he still had on a monocle and top hat. He was standing very regally, one hand tucked into his suit and the other resting on a black cane. Like his grandson, he had long sideburns, but unlike his grandson, he had a stylishly thin moustache that stretched out like cat whispers on this face. The resemblance was uncanny to Zenigata, minus the lack of Japanese features apparent in Lupin the Third.

"Now this picture may mislead you," said the guide, "but Lupin was not actually French nobility. Though he did masquerade for a time as a duke to explain his great fortune, Arséne Lupin was actually the son of a working class Parisenne family. His father and mother's identities have been lost to history. It is believed that he began his life of crime when he was still a boy, and that by the time he was fifteen, he had considerable wealth. He would spend the next two decades building social stature and land, all to create the image that he was from a great noble house. Contemporaries of Monsieur Lupin have written that he was quite a showman in his day. Even after the purchase of this mansion, which once belonged to the house of LeBlanc, he continued to pursue a secret life of crime, some say largely for amusement. Now if you'll follow me to the left - "

Fujiko, apparently, was transfixed by the image of Lupin the First. Zenigata also had problems taking his eyes off him, but probably for different reasons. Here was a man who was a thief all his life but had died in bed, of old age. It defied all logic and reason.

The guide led them into Lupin's study, or one of them at least. On the massive oak desk was a katana, sitting on a lacquered sword stand. The black sheath was simple and unadorned.

"This sword – which is called a katana – was used by samurai warriors in Japan. It is said that Monsieur Lupin acquired it during a fair in London. He would go on to make several trips to Japan in the thirties and forties, and many of the items he returned with our still in our collection today. This item, however, is the first and his purchase of it represents the beginning of a cultural interest in the island nation. As was said before, Monsieur Lupin moved his family to Japan in 1950, when the French Parliament passed a law that removed the legal protections he enjoyed while on this property."

Zenigata stepped up to admire the sword. "It's not a real sword."

"What?" The guide was a little taken back.

"It's not a real katana. It's too long," he said. "Katanas were cut down to the length of individual orders. This is a reproduction." He noticed the stares he was getting. "Sorry – continue."

She gave him a look. "We'll move on to the second floor, where – "

The tour continued for a while, passing through lavish bedrooms and studies. It was really an astounding place, and must have been incredible to live in, but Zenigata was getting impatient. He and Fujiko cut out of the tour when it went out into the maze gardens.

"It doesn't make sense," Zenigata said. "If I know a Lupin, he would have multiple places to shack up."

"I asked at the desk when I came in," Fujiko said. "They said there are no other known places."

"Maybe he left a clue or something. Come on," he said, leading her back in. "And don't steal anything while we're here!"

"I'd ask you what you take me for, but I already know the answer."

When the guards tried to stop them from wandering around, he waved his badge and they let them pass. They arrived at the giant portrait of Lupin the First, who was smiling back at them.

"It's like he's watching us," Fujiko mused. "You know, Lupin only talks about this guy in the fondest terms."

"He raised him, didn't he?"

"I don't remember all the details, but I think when his mom died and has dad went to prison, Lupin wound up in a Catholic orphanage. Then his grandfather came out of the woodwork and got custody. He died when Lupin was fourteen. There's some story about the inheritance being a mansion and a book, but I don't know it. Lupin only talks about me when we're together."

"Somehow I don't doubt it," he said. He looked at Lupin the First again, as if waiting for an answer to his questions. "Let's see if there are papers in the desk."

"You missed the exhibition room. They have all of his papers under glass," she said, taking him to the right. One of the old game rooms – possibly once a pool room – had been converted into a room for showing important documents, which were in glass cases. "There's some more in the archives downstairs but we'll have to talk our way in."

The first case was what looked like a very old arrest warrant, with an etched picture of Lupin the First. It was for a 500 francs. "Probably a lot of money at the time. He had a copy?"

"Sure. Lupin has one. It's framed in his mansion in Japan. It even has your signature on it."

"Hey! That's a department copy!"

She smiled slyly at him.

There were other letters written in different languages, most of them calling for Lupin's arrest. Behind one pane was what looked like a wedding invitation for Arséne and Bianca, dated to 1930. "The location," he said, pointing. "He was married in a cathedral, but the party's at a club. The Admiral's Arms. It's probably nothing." He turned away, but his sixth sense was going off.

They went back to the study. The draws of the desk were empty, except for some recent informational pamphlets about the estate that someone had stuffed in there. There was a pen on the desk, one of those old feather things, as if Lupin had been there writing something just a moment ago. It was probably for appearance's sake.

"You really think this is fake?" Fujiko said, gesturing to the sword.

"It's not fake – just, not a feudal sword." He picked it off its case and unsheathed it. He had never been particularly good with swords – he was better at defending against them. The sword hadn't been sharpened or polished at all. "My jutte is more dangerous than this thing."

"Well, he got it at a some cultural event in England – what do you expect?" Fujiko said, running her forefinger along the side of the blade. "There's something inscribed here."

"In Japanese?" He squinted – the letters were small, and difficult to make out. "No, it's French. _Suivez-moi à Arms de l'amiral..."_

"Follow me to the Admiral's Arms," Fujiko translated into Japanese, the language they used to talk to each other.

He flipped the sword over and found another word. "_D'abord_."

"First. Lupin the First."

"I don't think so. Lupin didn't go by Lupin the First. He went by his full name. Unless it was a gift to his son."

"Are you sure?"

"No. But I think I know where we'll find our answer."


	7. If I Die Before I Wake

Wolf and Cub

By DJ Clawson

Chapter 7 – If I Die Before I Wake 

"Get this," Jigen said, reading from the guidebook in his lap. "The Admiral's Arms was a famous pub in Paris in the 19th century. It was said to be a big hangout for thieves and criminals. There's even still supposed to be some bullet holes in a supporting beam from where a man was shot with a pistol."

"So it still exists?" Fujiko said. She had taken up her position sitting on Lupin's bed, stroking his hair while he dozed.

"Well, the pillar does. But the rest of it was renovated in the early 70's. Now it's a discotheque called Shades."

"Typical...," Lupin wheezed. "No respect ... for culture."

"You like nightclubs!" Fujiko said.

"Grandpa was married ... in that bar. Disco music should never ... be played there."

"Despite Lupin's objection to its present condition," Goemon said, "it is our only clue."

"If it is that," Jigen said skeptically.

"First," Zenigata said thoughtfully. "One. Is there an apartment complex above the bar?"

"Probably. This _is_ a city. Are you saying it's an apartment number?"

"It might be." Zenigata scratched his forehead under his hat. "There's only one way to find out."

Jigen stood up to leave with him, but Lupin interrupted him. "Jigen," Lupin said as loudly as he could, which was just above a whisper. "Don't hurt him."

"Are you crazy? Lupin, he stabbed you! This is not a time for the kiddy gloves!"

"Yes – but ... it's complicated. Just ... please don't." He was trying to shake Jigen's arm to drive the point home, but he had to give up in exhaustion.

"All right, all right," Jigen said, and gave Lupin a playful knock on the head. "I'll just make sure Zenigata does his thing. Not that it's ever helped him catch a Lupin before."

"Hey!"

* * *

While Goemon and Fujiko stayed back with Lupin, Zenigata and Jigen went to the club. The noise leaked onto the street, nearly shaking the cars that were parked there – but that wasn't why they were here. There was a doorway to the apartments.

"Hey, Zenigata," Jigen said, gesturing to a wall with buttons to buzz in. The names of the apartment owners were written beneath the numbers. Apartment one was 'LeBlanc.'

"That's the name of the noble." He got a look from Jigen. "The noble Lupin bought his mansion from." He pulled out his gun. "Let's go."

While the club was built up beneath them, the apartments themselves had fallen into complete disrepair. They could hear the music through the floors as they approached the door with a 'one' plaque hanging at an angle from a nail. "Interpol!" Zenigata said, banging on the door. "Open up!" No response. "All right. We're coming in!" He slammed on the door, opening it with the force of his shoulder. The door swung open and he stepped over what looked like a ton of envelopes. "Put your hands up!"

But no one was there. In fact, it looked like no one had been there in a long time. The apartment was filled with antique furniture and dust.

"Zenigata," Jigen said, gesturing down. Zenigata picked up his feet and noticed he was standing on a pile of unopened mail. It had obviously been shoved through the mail slot at some point. "No one's here." He put down his gun.

"Crap," Zenigata said, raising his fists in the air. "Crap crap CRAP!"

"Hey, I wanted to catch this guy as much as you did." Jigen did what he did best – sat down on the couch and lit a cigarette. "But he isn't here."

"He's still getting mail, though," he said, and picked up a pile. It was a lot of junk mail, and some bills addressed to a LeBlanc – just the last name, not anything else. One thing caught his eye. "There's a bill here from a township of Deauville. And here's another one." He opened it. "A water bill." There were redirection notes all over it. "There's a lot of stuff from Deauville. Ever heard of it?"

"I think it's on the coast. Near the tunnel to England."

"So, a couple hours from here?"

"Probably."

There was nothing else of note in the apartment. He grabbed the interesting parts of the pile and shoved them in his coat. "Are you up for a drive?"

* * *

It was already getting late when they returned to the hospital. Goemon was sitting at the foot of the bed, obviously awake and aware of his surroundings, but Fujiko had fallen asleep in her chair.

"Goemon," Jigen said. "We're going to drive to a town called Deauville to look for Lupin's father. Now this may all be a wild goose chase, but it's worth it to try."

"Someone must stay with Lupin," Goemon said simply.

"I can have a team of men in the room," Zenigata offered.

"Lot'll good that'll do us," Jigen said.

"I can stay with him," Fujiko offered, picking her head up.

"What are you gonna do? Seduce him to death?" Jigen said.

"Hey! I don't need this from you!" Fujiko shrieked. "I was trained to be an assassin you know! Zenigata, you used to be on my case – tell him it's true."

"Uh – it's true," he said, but he didn't want to get between them.

"You were chasing Fujiko around? Really?"

"Are we going to argue all day or are we going to find Lupin's father?" Goemon interjected, standing up and readying his sword.

"Maybe then I could get some sleep," Lupin said suddenly, making them all turn around.

"Lupin!" Zenigata cried.

"You just like ... saying my name, don't you?"

"Don't flatter yourself." He turned to the others. "I need to talk to Lupin while he's awake."

He eventually convinced the others to leave. This left him alone with Lupin, who was looking a little dazed but still fairly awake. "Am I under arrest?"

There was silence in the night, except for that horrible beeping from the heart monitor. "Eventually. Have you ever heard of Deauville?"

Lupin frowned. "It's a town, isn't it? North of here. Coastal."

Zenigata sighed and took the stack of envelops out of his pocket and put them on the bed. "We found these in what we think was your father's apartment. It's our only lead so we're gonna go up there."

"Interpol is paying you to chase him?"

"They let me chase you." He took of his hat. "I want to know what happened."

"Did you ever think to tell them you had a tip I was in the Bahamas or something? You could probably ... be there for a few weeks ... before they noticed."

"Lupin," he said.

"Fine. Oi." His smile faded. "So my father and I never exactly got along ... And by that I mean, he was a rapist and a murderer ... who tried to kill me ... when I was fifteen."

"Why?"

"He thought I was an imposter ... who took his inheritance. When grandpa disowned him... he lost his place in the will and I became his heir. Even after we straightened it out ... we had our differences. I didn't even want to deal with him ... when he called me. It was – I think it was two weeks ago. I'm losing track of time. How long have I been here?"

"Three days."

"I had surgery, right?" He picked up this device that was strapped to the railing of his bed. "I push this button for morphine. Life would be great if I wasn't injured."

"So he brought you out with the diamond heist," Zenigata said, trying to stay on track. "Why did he want to talk to you?"

"He thinks I'm a sham. That I ruined the family business. I'm not ... serious enough." He closed his eyes. "He's dying, you know."

"What?"

"Of cancer. In his lungs. And syphilis, but he won't admit to that."

"Is that why he called you?"

"I don't know. I don't understand my father." He opened his eyes again, but wasn't looking at Zenigata. "It just came out during the heist... like it was no big deal. And then he went back to yelling at me – and I was yelling at him - ... and I don't know what happened ... We said a lot of bad things to each other. The cancer thing ... hadn't really hit me." He swallowed, and looked painful. "We fought ... and he hit me – so I hit him. I didn't mean to."

"And he stabbed you."

"Yeah." He trailed off, and looked almost as if he was falling asleep for a second, before he caught himself. "He's not a bad guy ... Don't hurt him."

"What do you take me for?" Lupin the Second actually sounded like a pretty bad guy, but this wasn't the time or place to point that out. This was not what it was about. Zenigata saw Lupin fumble for his morphine buttons. He took it out of Lupin's shaking hands, pressed it, and put it back on the railing for him.

"Thanks, Pops," Lupin gasped, as if his own chest was weighing him down.

"You need a doctor?"

"Nah, I'm just tired," he said. "Do me a favor ... and I'll let you cuff me. I know ... how much you like that."

"Very funny. What do you need?"

"Just stay with me ... until I go to sleep." His speech was getting slurred. "'ncase my father comes ..."

"Sure." He lowered the lights, and held Lupin's hand until he was fast asleep.


	8. Stage Play

Wolf and Cub

By DJ Clawson

Chapter 8 – Stage Play

Once they were on the road, Zenigata felt himself mentally collapse. There was no moon out and the road looked to be leading them into nothing but a giant blackness. He took another sip of coffee and kept going.

"No rest for the wicked," Jigen said, slumped into the seat next to him with his feet up on the dashboard. Goemon was silent in the backseat. "I hate to break it you, Zenigata, but I don't think anyone's going to be awake when we get there."

"That's fine," he mumbled. He just didn't want to blow another night, while Lupin was still very much in danger and the other Lupin was still very much on the loose.

It was very late then they pulled in to the tiny coastal village. In the daylight the place was probably beautiful, but it was hard to appreciate. The smell of saltwater was everywhere as they got out of the car. Only a little convenience store was open, its fluorescent lights flooding into the street.

Zenigata flashed his batch at the counter, and held up a file photo of Lupin the Second. "Inspector Zenigata with Interpol. I'm looking for this man. Have you seen him?"

The owner, a pudgy old French man, put on his glasses and got up closer. "Who is he?"

"Arséne Lupin the Second. But he may be here under an alias, like LeBlanc. And he's older than when this photograph was taken."

The man hesitated before answering. "I think there's a guy like that, but he goes in and out. Has a place on the water, just past town. I can't tell you if he's there or not."

"Thanks," Zenigata said, trying to contain his excitement.

They got back in the car and followed the same road, which was long and winding. To their left was the ocean, and various docks and homes. Finally they hit the 'Now Leaving Deauville' sign and the place thinned out. In the seat next to him, Jigen was loading his gun.

"This is police business," Zenigata said. "I don't want you killing anyone."

"Relax, Pops," Jigen said, cocking his gun. "There's a difference between scaring a guy and shooting him."

There was at last a house on the left, small and secluded among the trees. Zenigata turned the headlights off as he pulled the car up to the porch. Goemon went around the back, leaping up onto the roof to get there. Before Zenigata could announce his presence, Jigen shot the lock off the door and it swung open.

"Uh – Interpol!" he stammered. "Open up!" He charged in, but the living room was empty. "G-ddamnit, he'd better be here!" The house was very well furnished with antiques. There was a door closed in the hallway, which he was able to open by nudging. "Hands up!"

It was the master bedroom, but no one was inside. The bed was unnamed and there was a tumbler and a bottle of whiskey on the dresser. There was also a framed photograph. Zenigata picked it up and wiped off the dirt and dust. It was a black-and-white of Lupin the Second, obviously in his twenties, holding a toddler that could only be Lupin the Third.

Jigen tapped on his shoulder and pointed to the right. There was a door to a private bathroom. "Lupin!" Zenigata shouted for good measure, and kicked the door in. It nearly swung off its hinge with the force of the blow, revealing one of those old-timey bathtubs with animal feet, and a toiler with a pull chain. He stepped inside. It appeared empty, but as he got closer to the bathtub, he felt a weight on his shoulders as someone leapt on his back from above. A hairy man in a black suit had emerged from his hiding spot above the door. A pain shot down his shoulder and back, forcing him onto the rotting tile floor.

"Zenigata!" It was Jigen's voice, but it seemed distant. "Make another move and you're toast," he said, obviously to Lupin. Out of the very corner of his eye, Zenigata could vaguely see Jigen pointing a gun at the elder Lupin's head, but for some reason, he couldn't turn his head very far sideways. There was the unmistakable sound of the safety clicking off in the Smith and Wesson. "Now get up."

The weight came off him, but it was like he was still held down. He struggled to flip over, bracing his back against the bathtub as he watched Lupin the Second get to his feet, holding a dagger to his back.

"J-Jigen," Zenigata said. "He has a knife."

But Lupin was already on the move, with the family's legendary speed. Jigen barely ducked out of the way in time, back into the bedroom, nearly tripping over the bed. As Lupin advanced, his neck met Zantetsuken's sharp edge. "Come closer," Goemon said, "and my sword will cut a very unworthy object."

"Lupin," Zenigata said, but his voice was weaker than it should have been. "You're under arrest!" He tossed the handcuffs, and one of them snapped onto Lupin's wrist, and the other to the doorknob. Jigen had meanwhile recovered, and as Lupin the Second turned away to undo his cuffs, the gunman knocked him on the back of the head with the butt of his gun. The mighty thief collapsed, one arm held up by the handcuff. His dagger fell to the floor.

"Inspector," Goemon said, stepping over the fallen thief, "you're bleeding."

He hadn't been aware of it, but now he noticed blood welling up through his trench coat, which meant it had already soaked through three layers. "Hey, I think I am."

Goemon removed his sash and wound it around Zenigata's shoulder. It hurt much more than he had noticed before. It felt like his back was burning away.

"What are we gonna do about him?" Jigen said, kicking Lupin's body. He picked up the dagger, which had a gold-plated hilt. The blade was perfectly polished and shined in the light.

"Radio for some local help," Zenigata said, pulling out his radio in the hopes that one of them would do it. He was getting tired now, and it really seemed like a bother. "Though – I think you might not want to give your name, Jigen."

"'sokay. I'm pretty good at impersonating you. Not like Lupin, though. It's like a hobby of his." But the gunman picked up the radio. "This is Inspector Zenigata of Interpol, requesting assistance."

Zenigata tuned the rest of it out. He was getting annoyed by the attention Goemon was giving him. "I'll be all right."

"After you see a doctor."

"I just want to get him in custody," Zenigata said. "Then I'll feel better."

* * *

When news got back to Paris that the famous Lupin the Second had been caught, they immediately sent up a prisoner transport van. Lupin was still unconscious when they loaded him in. Zenigata had by this point lost most of his strength, so he let the officers do it. The local doctor was woken up and brought over to the house, where he diagnosed a stab wound to the shoulder that was largely superficial but had taken a lot of blood from Zenigata. He was stitched up and he demanded to ride in van with Jigen, now the driver. 

"You were damn lucky," Jigen said, as they start out to the capitol. Light was beginning to appear in the early morning sky now.

"Yes," Goemon said, holding the dagger in his hands. "This is the legendary Zantetsu dagger."

"Lupin the Second knows the secret smithing formula? Really?" Jigen said with disbelief. "I bet Lupin would kill for it. Not literally, but you know what I mean."

"He stole the scrolls from my master and memorized the formula before they were recovered," Goemon said. "This was years ago, of course."

"No kidding," Jigen said, puffing on his cigarette. "So Lupin – our Lupin – never got it out of his father, and he never got it out of you."

"Lupin keeps things from me, and I keep things from him as well," Goemon said simply. "Lupin's father I cannot speak for."

"Well, of course I wasn't going to give it to the little brat. What do you think, that I'm stupid?"

They all turned their heads – Zenigata, very painfully – to see that in the back, Lupin the Second had apparently woken. His face was largely hidden behind an overgrown beard that still had traces of black in it, but it was obvious enough that he was sneering.

"The first thing he does when I get out of jail is try to kill to me," he said. "He tosses a television at my head, then stabs my hand with a knife."

"Somehow I don't think you were completely innocent in this," Jigen said.

"Well, it's hard to make introductions when you're wearing a pinstripes," Lupin snapped. "He killed the men I was with, too. I bet you didn't know that – I bet you didn't know my son is as bloodthirsty a killer as his dear old dad."

"There is a great difference," Goemon said, "between killing in self defense and in anger and spite."

"You keep telling yourself that, ronin," Lupin said. "I know him better than you do."

A heavy silence pervaded over the car.

Jigen, at last, broke it. "And I thought my family was messed up."

Zenigata agreed with Jigen's sentiment, but he was too tired to express it. Still, if Lupin the Second was awake in the backseat, there was no way in hell he was going to let himself nod off now. If he hadn't been injured, his impulse to deck him would probably have been greater. And, he kept reminding himself, Lupin was a sick old man, in more ways then one.

"So – _Keibu_, you've caught the great Lupin the Second," Lupin said. "And thanks to me, you've caught Lupin the Third. For a couple thousand euros I'll let you know where dad is buried." He seemed like he had more to say, but it was interrupted by a hacking cough.

"I only know where Lupin is because you screwed up," he said coldly. "You sick son of a bitch."

"You talk to the commissioner with that mouth?"

"I'll do whatever I damn want, asswipe." He leaned over to reach Lupin, but Goemon held him down.

"Let it go. He's not worth it," Jigen said, putting one hand on Zenigata.

"Do as the wanted criminal says," Lupin said. "At least Musashi-_Keibu_ knew his friends from his enemies."

"I somehow doubt you have any understanding of the word 'friends,'" Goemon said simply.

"And you call yourself friends," Lupin said. "More like assistants. A Lupin doesn't need any help – at least I didn't, and dad didn't. So what does that make Arséne?"

"Your son," Zenigata said.

"Don't remind me." He doubled over with another coughing fit. Miserable hacking sounds filled the van, then laughter.

"Jesus," Jigen said. "This guy is one twisted fu – "

Zenigata never heard the end of that sentence. He heard only the explosion that rocked the van, propelling them as far forward as they could go with their seatbelts. The vehicle spun wildly and crashed into a tree in the French wilderness just off the road.

* * *

He didn't realize he'd been out until Jigen was shaking him. This caused him a great amount of discomfort with his shoulder, but he held it in. "You there, old man?" 

Zenigata turned over. They were sitting on the ground now, because the van had been torn in two by the force of the blast. Lupin the Second towered over them. "Pathetic. Don't you know a Lupin always has done last trick up his sleeve?" He pulled out another dagger, and used it to cut off his handcuffs.

"Lupin!" Zenigata shouted. "You're under arrest!"

"Not until the final act," Lupin said, tossing a smoke bomb. By the time it had cleared, he was gone.

"You know, for an old man, he can really move," Jigen said, as he helped Zenigata up. "What's the final act supposed to be? I knew the Lupin family was full of drama queens, but this ridiculous."

Zenigata knew the answer already. "He has to finish what he started. He has to kill his son."


	9. That Sparkling Lupin Personality

Wolf and Cub

By DJ Clawson

Chapter 9 – That Sparkling Lupin Personality 

The police arrived quickly enough to pick them up. Zenigata spent the rest of the way back to the hospital on his radio, calling up as many officers as he could muster. By the time they reached the driveway, his voice was nearly gone from shouting at the commissioner and the sun was now up in the sky. He didn't even want to think about what time it was.

"What the hell is going on?" Fujiko said, having noticed the clamor. She had also clearly been up all night. "What did you guys do?"

"We may or may not have caught Lupin's father," Jigen said. "And it may or may not have blown up in our faces."

"Literally," Goemon said, drawing the shade across the window.

"Well – Zenigata! You're bleeding!"

"Huh?" He looked at his shoulder. He was still wearing the makeshift bandage the doctor in Deauville had put on him, and it was clear he had popped some his stitches. "I'm fine. How's Lupin?"

"I was sleeping until you came in," Lupin said without a hint of malice. "You guys look worse than I probably do."

"Yeah, well, he's not after _us_," Jigen said, straightening his tie and blackened jacket. "Maybe we should move him to another room. Where he's not registered."

"Hey, I saw that movie!" Lupin said.

"So we're going to stay with Lupin indefinitely?"

Zenigata sipped his coffee. "I can stay up."

* * *

Twenty minutes later they were all conked out in the chairs shoved by the bed. Fujiko even rested her head on the edge of Lupin's bed.

"So I have to get knifed for her to sleep with me," Lupin mumbled, waking Zenigata.

"Lupin!" he muttered instinctively.

"You really do talk about me in your sleep," Lupin said.

"You're lucky you're injured," Zenigata mumbled. "When this is over, the cuffs are going right back on!"

"Whatever you want," Lupin said tiredly. A lot of his spunk – his tireless energy – was still missing from him, and it was frightening. "Did you really arrest my father?"

"He got away," he said shamefully. "Had a bomb stashed on him. I should have seen it coming."

"Don't be so hard on yourself. He's even gotten me a couple of times," he said with a smile, "and I'm the best."

"Yeah, he told me your – uh, first meeting. After he escaped from prison."

"What a waste of a television set." He paused thoughtfully. "He probably told you some other stuff, too."

"It doesn't matter."

"It _does_ matter," Lupin said. "I've done things in my life I'm not proud of. The Lupin family isn't an easy family to be in. But you're a cop – you know that feeling bad about something doesn't undo the damage."

He knew Lupin was right, but he didn't want to say that right now. It seemed too cruel. Besides, his thoughts were interrupted by a loud explosion that shook the hospital. Suddenly alarms were blaring and people's machines were going off.

"Holy crap!" Lupin said, attempting to sit up as Jigen kneeled down in a fighting stance and Goemon practically leapt on top of him, sword at the ready, from a position of sound sleeping.

Zenigata pulled back the curtains, and they all saw smoke rising from another wing of the building, lower down. "I think that's admitting. What the hell is going on?"

"Inspector!" One of the guards assigned to guard the door to Lupin's room burst in.

"Don't just stand there, you idiot! If Lupin is here, I want you to find him!" he shouted as he was saluted. "Go!"

"Dad always liked to arrive in style," Lupin said. "Goemon, get off me!"

"Not until you stay down!" Goemon pushed the handle of his sword down on Lupin's head.

"It doesn't make sense," Jigen said, checking the barrel of his gun. "Why would he blow up a bunch of ambulances?"

"A diversion, perhaps."

"I don't like it." Zenigata closed the curtains again. A nurse knocked on the class door, and he nodded to Jigen to let her in.

"If this is because of your patient – "

"Listen, this is official police business," he interrupted. "I need to get him of here. Can he survive without all those machines? I don't mean for very long."

"That's not recommended."

"He can't stay here," He said, acting mainly on instincts. "Lupin, are you up for a little trip?"

"Where are you going to take him?" Fujiko demanded.

"To somewhere else in this hospital. I don't know yet. But we should make it look like he's still here somehow."

Lupin put up no protest as they unattached him and Zenigata lifted him into a wheelchair. He was clad only in a hospital gown, so Fujiko put a blanket over him, and held his hand to stop the bleeding from where the nurse had pulled the IV.

"Here," Jigen said, handing Goemon a mask from Lupin's belongings. "You be Lupin. I can't shave that fast."

Within a minute they had Goemon in the bed as a fairly convincing Lupin, with Fujiko hovering by his side. "Put a move on her ... and I'll kill you," Lupin quipped weakly.

"It was the furthest thing from my mind," Goemon assured him.

"I'm not sure if this is really a good idea, but I think we'll know soon enough." He tossed Zenigata a walkie-talkie. "Keep in touch."

* * *

"You doing all right there?" From his position pushing the wheelchair down the long hallway, he couldn't see Lupin's expression. "Am I going too fast?"

"The day you go too fast for me ... I'll retire, Old Man."

"You're a real riot, Lupin," he smiled. "Hang on tight." He veered left, into a supply room that looked fairly abandoned. He shut the door behind them.

"I have to say – this is not where I thought ... I would end up," Lupin said. "Half-naked in a closet with you."

"Why don't you save your energy by shutting up?" he demanded, though it wasn't in any kind of hurtful manner. Above them, there were sounds of screaming and gunshots. He pulled out his gun, and positioned the wheelchair so it wouldn't be visible when the door was opened.

He found himself more concerned when there _wasn't_ any sound from above. He checked the walkie-talkie, but certainly he didn't want to start a connection and alert the elder Lupin to their location. Zenigata positioned himself behind a cabinet, shielding Lupin from view.

There were screams in the hallway – some nurse, probably, or a patient – and some amount of talking, none of it audible. He cursed under his breath and waited.

The door opened despite the lock, and a flash of black and silver darted across the room, sideways at first and then towards Lupin. Lupin the Second's dagger – a mini-zantetsuken, another one from his collection – went right for Lupin, but was stopped only by a parry from Zenigata's jutte. With a twist of Zenigata's wrist, he was able to pull the dagger right out of the thief's hands. It hurled across the room and embedded itself in the wall.

"Didn't we do this already, _Tottsan_?" Lupin the Second demanded, as he went for his dagger.

"To the ends of the earth, Lupin!" Zenigata said, hurling his jutte so it pinned the other man's hand to the wall. "You're under arrest!"

But when he went to handcuff him, Lupin senior slapped him across the face with a surprisingly powerful blow, hurling him backwards against the door. This gave Lupin the time he needed to try and pull the jutte out of the wall. "Is this Zenigata Heiji's jutte?"

"That's none of your business!" But by the time he was standing again, Lupin the Second was ready for him. He pinned him back down with his knee, jutte in hand.

"This weapon is worth more than you are," Lupin said, but before he could do anything else, he was whacked in the back of the head with a broom. Lupin the Third had managed to reach one from his wheelchair and was wielding it with looks that could kill. "Little brat!"

Lupin the Second was a very good fighter, but he couldn't fight them both at once. He got up to strangle his son, Zenigata grabbed him from behind and cuffed him to the duct. He took back his jutte, then rushed to the younger Lupin, who was still recovering. "Are you okay?"

"You're not suppose to be mothering him, you dolt!" Lupin the Second said. "No wonder you never caught him. You don't have the –"

"I'm really getting sick of you, Lupin," Zenigata said, pointing the tip of his weapon at his rival's throat.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I'm not a _nice _thief."

"Your father was a gentleman."

"And a liar and a crook. Just like me and just like Arséne. Who's side are you on here, _Keibu_?"

"We're talking about your son's life!"

"That's right. My son. Not_ yours_." He slipped out of his cuffs and hurled them at Zenigata. When Zenigata went to punch him, he had ducked and gone sideways, up against the wall where his dagger was still stuck. He pulled it out and came back with it. He swung it underhand, up into Zenigata's chest. Zenigata flinched and bucked over, grasping the weapon as his jutte fell out of his hands. "Didn't anyone ever tell you not to get involved in someone else's family feud?" He smiled and patted Zenigata on the back, turning away from him, and towards his son, who was still trying to reach for the broom.

He had left the dagger in Zenigata. The inspector slowly slid it out and dropped it. It hit the floor as he straightened up. "Lupin –" he said, grabbing him from behind by the shoulder. "You're under arrest!"

Next thing Lupin the Second knew, every limb was cuffed to the supply cabinet, the ducts, and anything else in range. Zenigata stood up fully, obviously completely uninjured. He picked up the dagger and put it in his belt. He also retrieved his gun, and held it up at Lupin, as he undid some of the buttons to his collared shirt. Beneath it was obviously a Kevlar vest.

"You son of a bitch," Lupin the Second said. "You actually beat up a sick old man to protect the man you've been chasing for twenty years."

"Damn straight!" Though it didn't make a lot of sense, now that he thought about it.

"If you think you're on the right side, you're more twisted than I am."

He probably should have had better control of himself, but his head was pounding, his shoulder was killing him, and the confined space had become stuff and disorienting. "You!" He grabbed Lupin by the throat and began to strangle him.

"Pops," came Lupin the Third's weak protest. He was still holding his neck, and could barely sit up in his wheelchair, but he put one hand out on Zenigata's. "Leave him alone."

But it felt so good to have his hands around the older thief's neck. He had to hold himself back from continuing.

"He's just an old man with nothing but hate left in him," Lupin said in a hoarse voice, barely above a whisper.

"Lupin," Zenigata said, but he did take his hands off the father, who was still practically chained to the wall. "This man tried to kill you."

"And I tried to kill _him_," he said. "But he's still my father."

Something about Lupin's words deflated him. He pulled away from Lupin the Second, but kept his gun up as he reached for his radio. "This is Zenigata. I'm on the second floor and I need assistance."

"You spineless coward –"

"You," Zenigata growled, "had better be quiet."

"Where are my partners?" Lupin the Third demanded in the sternest voice he could muster.

"Alive. Depending on how much blood they can afford to lose," he sneered.

"All right, you can punch him now," Lupin said to Zenigata.


	10. What He Did To Me

Wolf and Cub

By DJ Clawson

Chapter 10 – What He Did To Me 

"Hey Pops – don't you have an award ceremony to go to?"

Zenigata set the vase of flowers down on the tray by the half-eaten hospital lunch. He wasn't about to admit it, but it was nice to hear some vitality behind Lupin's voice. Coming and going was now also easier, since Lupin had been transferred out of ICU to a regular ward. "It's tomorrow. I'm just doing it for the commissioner."

"G-d, Zenigata, haven't you gotten a bunch of medals by now? Didn't you get one in Italy for saving the Tower of Piza or something?"

"Fortunately he has his monumental failures to balance it out," Jigen said with a smirk. He was awkwardly spread out in his chair, careful to keep his weight off his injured arm. In fact, none of the Lupin clan had emerged unscathed. Goemon had a bandaged head and Fujiko still wouldn't admit exactly what Lupin the Second broke and how he broke it. Everyone put on a good show for their boss, who had barely said anything about the situation since his father was carted off by half a dozen policemen. Arséne Lupin II had to be treated for injuries and exhaustion, and was sitting in a prison hospital under heavy guard, while Japan and France fought over who would get him. Under French law he was allowed to hire private doctors to see to his medical needs, and though he made no move to do so, they had mysteriously been sent nonetheless.

"I'm glad I'm such a source of humor for you," Zenigata said, leaning back in his seat. He noticed the television was on, with the volume low, but the movie was a very fast English that he couldn't understand. "What is this?"

"Ocean's Eleven," Jigen said. "He's watched it like twenty times since he got in here. It's overdue at the video store."

"I'm gonna figure it out," Lupin said with obvious frustration. "Those flyers have to get in the vault somehow."

"Lupin, give it up," Fujiko nudged. "It's a plot hole. They totally admitted it on the internet."

"It's best to let it go," Goemon said. "The man is obsessed and you cannot dam a mighty river."

"Actually you can. I take it you've never been to Nevada," said Jigen. "Man, you can take the boy out of the country, but you can't – "

"I need to talk to Lupin," Zenigata announced.

"I don't know when we let Zenigata start pushing us around," Jigen said as they left.

Lupin shut off the television. Most of his color had returned now, and they were talking about releasing him within the week. "So which country wants my head first? You're not sending me up the river on the same boat as my father, are you?"

"No, we want you both alive for your trials," he said, patting Lupin on the shoulder.

"Is he okay?"

"Yeah, but there's not a lot they can do for - you know..." He trailed off. "You sent those doctors, didn't you?"

Lupin looked at him completely seriously for once. "How long does he have?"

"A couple months. Maybe more, if he agrees to chemo. The government won't pay for it, though."

"The government doesn't have to pay for it."

"You don't have to do this. That man is a danger to you for as long as he's alive."

"He was just mad at himself and his life and he was taking it out on me," Lupin insisted. "I don't win any prizes by beating him in anything. He's still my father and he's still dying."

"Your nobility is going to get you killed someday."

"Well, I have to say – it's not the worst way a thief can go."

Zenigata sighed. Something about Lupin was being unshakable, as usual. "Do you know why he came after you? Out of nowhere?"

"He wanted to see me one last time. It just didn't go well," Lupin said.

* * *

_The wall of the bank hadn't been excessively hard to shimmy up. It was an old French building, obviously not originally a bank, and it had plenty of ledges and windowsills. He made it up fairly quickly, before the guard made another pass around. _

_Inside, his father had already cracked the walk-in vault. "I thought I was going to have to wait all day," he said with his back turned to his son, hands in the loot. _

_"Good to see you too," Lupin said with controlled vehemence. This was their first meeting in over ten years, and he owed it to him to at least try and be civil._

_When his father turned around, he could see a different. The years had not been kind to Lupin the Second. His beard, once trimmed and black, was overgrown and largely grey. His hair was a bushy mess. _At least I know I'm not going to go bald_, Lupin mused. _

_"Are you going to help me or not?" his father said impatiently, shoving a box of jewelry in his hands. _

_"Sure, dad. Hey, you look terrible."_

_"Cancer does that to you," Lupin the Second mumbled nearly inaudibly, loading up his pack with the diamonds from the case. When Lupin tried to get closer to help him, he pushed him away. "Get away from me, you little brat."_

_"Hey, _you_ invited _me_." But mixed signals was what their relationship – if one could call it that – was all about. "Cancer?"_

_"There's black spots all over my lungs. But then again, the doctors are full of shit." He looked like he had more to say, but they both heard the door handle on the other side. Two generations of the Lupin clan went out the window. His father opened the manhole and dropped into the sewer, landing on the walkway. Lupin followed him._

_"Cover the hole, stupid," his father spat. "You want them to follow us?"_

_"You know, dad, I may have some experience at this," Lupin said. _

_"Yeah, you're all over the papers."_

_"You've been following my career?"  
_

_"If career is what you'd call it," his father said, readjusted the pack on his back with some difficulty. "Jetting around the world with your grandfather's money, having every good stash swiped by that predictable whore." _

_"Is that what this is about? Fujiko?" he said with disbelief. "You forced me here so you can yell at me about my girlfriend?" _

_"You're a laughingstock, Arséne. It's bad for the family name."  
_

_Lupin growled, "Right, like you've been so good for it. Winding up in jail on rape and murder charges. Why do you think grandpa disowned you?"_

_Beneath his hairy face, there was a look of rage in his father's eyes. "You obnoxious brat." For an old man, he could move rather fast when he wanted to. He smacked Lupin across the face. While his son was still collecting himself, he snacked the jewel box from Lupin's hands. "Teach you to mess with a real Lupin."_

_That was enough. Lupin decked his father across the face, sending him against the wall of the sewer. _

_Lupin the Second cursed in French, Japanese, and a few other languages. "Maybe you are my son after all," he said with a sick laugh. "So it has to end like this."_

_There was a flash of a dagger that had been buried in his father's clothing. He didn't really have to advance – Lupin was close enough and he was fast enough._

_

* * *

_

"That's pretty much how it went," Lupin said, his voice tired. "If he said anything else to me, I missed it. It's all a blur. Say – what happened to the stash?"

"Found beneath the floorboards in the Deauville house," Zenigata said. "You should really press charges."

"He's up for so many other things, it would really just be a drop in the bucket."

"Whatever you say." Zenigata knew better than to press him on this. "Feel better, okay? Because my superiors are getting impatient."

Lupin had a strange smile on his face. "Sure, Pops."

* * *

"I really have to hand it to you, Inspector," the commissioner said over the bowl of punch. "Brilliant work, catching both Lupins in one shot. Kill two birds with one stone, as they say in England."

"Uh, thanks," Zenigata said, but this case didn't make him feel particularly good about himself. He wasn't used to praise and it felt unnatural. Besides, his still-healing shoulder was killing him, and something made him want to get back to the hospital. He shook all of the necessary hands at the reception and slipped out.

In the hospital, the nurse was eager to see him. There was a pile of unconscious guards piled up at the door to Lupin's room. Zenigata sighed, already knowing what she was about to tell him. "I don't know how it happened – "

"It's fine," he assured her, for some reason. He stepped over the bodies and into the open room. All that was left of Lupin's presence was an overdue tape of _Ocean's Eleven_ and a note. In no particular hurry, he sat down and opened the note.

_Dear Pops,_

_As you're the brilliant and celebrated genius of Interpol now, I guess you saw this coming. I can't thank you enough for all of your hard work. _

_I'd like to officially announce my brief Sabbatical while I recover, because if I try to do anything stressful for the next few months, I think my friends will kill me. Give yourself a break, Old Man, and take a vacation. _

_I've taken the liberty of leaving an anonymous 'tip' with Interpol that I'll be at the Sheraton in Aruba for the next few weeks, Room 203. It might seem like I'm not there, but you'd better go and stake it out. Bring sunscreen._

_All my love,_

_Lupin the Third_

Zenigata balled his fists and raised them to the ceiling for good measure. "Lupaaaaaaan!"


	11. First and Last Chance

Wolf and Cub

By DJ Clawson

Chapter 11 – First and Last Chance 

A Month Later

Zenigata played with the prison pass around his neck, because he didn't know what else to do in this situation. Lupin the Second was sleeping in his hospital bed and the doctor said not to wake him, but it didn't seem right to leave a wheezing, dying man alone, even if he despised him. Something about seeing the pale, bare frame of a man shuddering and breathing only with the help of a machine sucked all of the hate out of him, even if only for the time being.

"Sir," said one of the doctors as he came in the room. He was wearing a brown three-piece suit and leaning on a cane, even though he obviously wasn't an old man. "Unless you intend to stay the night, I recommend you leave before lockdown."

"Right." He gathered his briefcase and stood up. As he went to leave, he passed by the man. "And just for the record, I'm only letting you off because of your father's condition."

"Thanks," was the reply. "Nice tan, by the way."

"You little brat!"

"Shhh!" Lupin put his hands to his lips. "He's sleeping."

Zenigata unclenched his fists. "Next time I see you ..." But he couldn't finish his sentence. He just left the room, passing into the hallway. Through the window, he could see Lupin sit down in the chair beside the bed, holding his father's hand.

"Inspector," said one of the guards – a _real_ guard. "If you want to leave before lockdown, you should come this way."

It would be so easy now. Lupin the Second was in prison and so, technically, was Lupin the Third. He could alert the guards, and they could take down a the weakened thief, at least until his next great escape.

But that was right. There was always one last great escape. And this time, it only seemed fair to let Lupin have it – but only this time.

The End


End file.
